Cleaning isn't just for Spring

As the seasons gear up to change I am always looking at and re-evaluating my cleaning methods on how I can be more efficient. I am always looking for ways to change it up and freshen it up. I came upon a website recently that I have fallen in love with. It is proving to be over and over again a fantastic resource.

If you haven't already checked out I Dream of Clean, then be sure to make it a must happen stop on your next internet browsing session.

Happy Cleaning!

Tuesday Tips

A Hair Dryer in the Kitchen?

Yes, keeping a hair dryer in the kitchen is a good idea. It can help you dry just-washed salad greens...soften too-frozen ice cream...set icing on a cake...dry a big water splotch you got on your blouse right before your guests are due to arrive...and probably a dozen more useful things that you’ll think of when the dryer is within reach in the kitchen.

A Fresher Carpet in Minutes

Dry-clean your carpet by sprinkling it liberally with baking soda. Use a flour sifter to help distribute it evenly. If you can leave the baking soda on your carpet overnight, do it. If not, let it stay for at least one hour.

Meanwhile, sprinkle one tablespoon of your favorite fragrant herb (optional)—such as lavender—on the carpet. After waiting, vacuum up the baking soda and whichever herb you used. The unpleasant carpet odors—cigarette smoke, mustiness, wet dog, cat urine—should be gone, and the fragrant aroma of the herb should be in the air.

Make Your Summer Guests Feel Welcome

To make guests feel at home, hang a shoe bag over the bathroom door and fill the pockets with items they might need—for example, bars of soap, washcloths, body lotion, shampoo, a hair dryer, combs and brushes, gel, mousse, a toothbrush and toothpaste...even a rubber ducky!



For Juicier Chicken

If possible, when cooking chicken leave the skin on. There’s a membrane between the skin and meat of a chicken that keeps moisture in and fat out while it’s cooking. So, for juicier, more flavorful chicken, remove the skin after it has been cooked.


Pest-Free Picnic

When you’re having a picnic, barbecue or any other kind of outdoor gathering, put portable, battery-powered fans around the area (at least two). Place one facing the center of the party, and one aimed at the food table.
The fans will keep flying insects (such as mosquitoes, bees, wasps, flies and gnats) away while keeping your guests cool.






From Household Magic Daily Tips

Tuesday Tips

Garden Hose Care

Do not store a hose where the sun will shine down on it. The sun’s heat will dry it out. Also, keep a hose away from any kind of heating source, like a furnace or outdoor barbecue.

If the hose has sprung a little leak, instead of using glue or tape to repair it, try this fix—heat up the tip of an ice pick or Phillips-head screwdriver, and gently touch the rubber around the hole in the hose with the hot tip of the tool. It should seal the hole closed.

Fruit Facts

According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), fruit should be ripened at room temperature. When it is ripe and refrigerated, you can plan on it staying edible for the following amounts of time...

Apples—1 month
Apricots, bananas, grapes, nectarines, peaches, pears, plums—3 to 5 days
Berries and cherries—2 to 3 days
Citrus fruit—2 weeks
Cranberries and melons (except watermelon)—1 week
Watermelon—3 to 5 days

A Natural Mosquito Repellent

A popular mosquito repellent is the mosquito coil. The coiled, clay-like material sits on a stand and is burned. It releases a pleasant odor that is very repellent to flying pests. Each coil burns for about two hours.

But many of these contain a potent lung carcinogen. Studies show that burning one coil could be the equivalent of smoking more than 100 cigarettes!

You may want to try the following suggestion to deal with those nasty little buggers...

Drink 2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar in a glass of water. The smell of vinegar, emitted in your normal perspiration, will repel mosquitoes, whose sense of smell is about 10,000 times better than ours.

For Fresher Cheese...

To prevent a chunk of cheese from getting moldy, place it in a resealable plastic bag along with one or two cubes of sugar (try to squeeze any excess air out of the bag). The cheese should stay fresh longer, and the sugar deters mold.

Fast Fix for Frizzy Hair

If you wake up with out-of-control frizz and have no gel to tame it, take an ice cube and run it over your hair. It’s a cool way to calm down frizz.

Or, buy great-smelling fabric-softener sheets to run over your hair from top to bottom. Softening ingredients in the sheets lubricate hair and counteract the static that causes flyaways and the frizzies.

From Household Magic Daily Tips

Tuesday Tips

Best Way to Freeze Strawberries

First, rinse the berries in a colander (do not soak in water), and let them dry thoroughly (it helps to pat them gently with paper towels). Then, cut off the green leaves on top. Spread the unwashed strawberries on a baking sheet, and put them in the freezer. Once they are frozen solid, transfer them to a resealable plastic freezer bag, and put them back in the freezer. (Don’t forget to label with the date they were frozen.) Frozen strawberries will stay good up to three months.


Chop Onions Without Crying

To slow down the enzymes that cause tearing, put onions in the freezer for 15 minutes—or in the refrigerator for one hour—before you have to cut them. But if you don’t plan ahead, here are some other suggestions...

Work with the onion under cold running water, or fill a basin with cold water and submerge the onion while you cut it.

Burn a candle in the area where you are cutting. The tear-causing vapor from the onion is drawn to the heat source from the flame, and it will burn off some of the noxious fumes.

Bite on a slice of bread and have the rest sticking out of your mouth to absorb the tear-making fumes.


Jeans Too Long?

Try This...
If your jeans are too long and you don’t like the style of shredded hems, consider an easy way out. Rather than dealing with the difficult chore of denim hemming (say that three times fast!), turn your pants inside out, turn up each hem and iron the folded edges. Finally, tape the turned-up edges with duct tape, and turn your jeans right-side out.

Duct tape now comes in many colors, so you can match the tape to your jeans or other clothing…not that anyone will see it. The duct tape should stay stuck on your clothes through many washings.

Quick Tomato Ripening Trick

To ripen tomatoes quickly, place them in a brown paper bag with a banana or a couple of apples. The ethylene gas emitted by the banana or apples will help the tomato ripen.


Easy Waffle Iron Fix

Nobody wants to clean the mess made by a waffle iron that won’t let go of the waffles. To bring your waffle iron back to its nonstick condition, place a piece of waxed paper where the batter goes, close the iron and let it heat up. Keep an eye on it, and as soon as the waxed paper turns brown, remove it. Your waffle iron should be good as new.

From Household Magic Daily Tips

Food Safety

Preventing Foodborne Illness

Every year, an estimated 48 million Americans get sick because of foodborne illness, and about 3,000 people die from it. But those numbers could be lowered if people heeded the “two-hour food rule.”

Basically, food that is exposed to the open air for longer than two hours will grow bacteria to harmful levels. So, at a party or picnic—or wherever you serve food—keep track of the amount of time the food has been out of the refrigerator or oven. And after two hours, wrap the food properly, and put it in the refrigerator or freezer.

Also, when a platter is empty (or almost empty) and you want to refill it, DO NOT just dump new food on top of the old food—in fact, don’t even put new food on the empty-but-used platter. Each time you want to set out new food, wash the platter before you refill it, or serve the new food on another clean platter.


How Long Does Food Last in a Power Outage?

During a power outage, keep the refrigerator and freezer doors shut. If you can determine when the power outage began (check a clock that runs on electricity), you can figure out how long the food will be good. As a general rule...

Food kept cold in an unopened refrigerator will last about 4 hours.
Food in a full, unopened freezer will stay frozen for about 48 hours.
Food in a semi-full, unopened freezer will stay frozen for up to 24 hours.

Martha Stewart's LIVING

Just passing this on not sure about how long it will last or what you have to do....it is a free year subscription to Martha Stewart's magazine LIVING. I already have a subscription so that is why I haven't checked it out but I love that magazine so that is why I had to pass this offer on when I saw it.

Friday Favorites

10 Dressed Up Jello Shots - these don't even look like jello shots they look like desserts

DIY Wire Baskets - Ballards and Pottery Barn inspired wire baskets. I see so many places these baskets could be used to organize.

Dealing with Conflict: Knowing when the Battle is Internal - a TinyBuddha.com post that although doesn't pertain Domestic Servitude directly - I feel this is still a good one to share

Canning Homemade - a blog devoted to canning that I feel has lots of interesting and useful advice

Free Printable Storage Labels - all sorts of printable labels

Polishing Shoes

Everyone has a favorite domestic chore to do. Mine is polishing shoes. When I was a child I'd watch my Father, who had been in the Army, polish his. When I was in high school, my brother was the one who taught me the essentials of polishing shoes. You don't need a lot of things to get started but here are my absolute essentials:

Saddle soap
soft, lint-free cloths
Kiwi shoe polishes
Shoe brushes (I have one for light, one for dark and one for brushing dust off)
Suede brush
Suede cleaner
Doc Marten's Wonder Balsam

For most leather shoes and boots, here's what I recommend. If the boots are oil tanned leather (heavy duty work boots) this process will not work! They do not polish to a shine and you shouldn't try. Just remove the dirt and condition them with a leather conditioner.

First thing, take out the shoe laces. Next, brush off the big pieces of dust and dirt. Dampen a cloth and apply the saddle soap, wipe off excess. Let air dry for a few minutes.





Take another cloth, and rub into the shoe polish and apply to the boots in a circular motion. Make sure you get the entire leather surface of the shoe, including the tongue. Some people use sponge applicators instead of cloths, but I find I get much better coverage from the cloth.

Let the polish dry and then using a soft brush, buff the shoes to a high shine.



If the boots are Doc Martens, instead of regular polish, use Doc Martens Wonder Balsam to bring out the high gloss. For oil tan boots, I recommend Aussie Leather Conditioner.

For Suede shoes, use the suede brush and brush the shoes, then apply a thin layer of suede cleaner and rebrush. My hiking boots are olive green suede and I did them the same time I did Sir's but they don't photograph as well! They looked the same in both the before and after photos so, I scrapped the pictures.

After you are done, relace the boots. If the laces need replacing, you can do so at this time.



If you have any questions or if something was unclear please ask!

Friday Favorites

Make Ahead Freezer Smoothies - great tip for making it even easier to make smoothies when mornings are rushed but you want to stay healthy for breakfast

40 bags in 40 days - I am linking to her list. But there is a link to her original post of decluttering by just making a list of 40 places/spaces that need decluttering and doing on place each day. And it isn't rooms mind you - it is draws and toy boxes. Might make it easier by breaking it down into a list or challenge.

How to Cover up Dings in Wooden Furniture - with a walnut? really? I wonder if it works. Please if someone does this let me know how it goes.

Under the Sink Storage Trays - how to build under the sink storage trays

How to store Vegetables and Fruit without Plastic Bags - this site tells you how to be more eco-friendly and not using plastic bags to store your fruits and vegetables

Seasoned Corn on the Cob

Corn on the Cob - freshly cooked
Butter
Seasonings
Ziplock Bag



Place several pats of butter and seasonings in a ziplock bag. I put almost a pat of butter per ear of corn. And it is just to taste on the seasonings but I probably start with a tablespoon of my main seasoning. After husks are removed and corn is cooked, place hot corn into ziplock with butter and seasonings. Let the hot corn sit there for a moment to get the butter melting and then start move it around in the ziplock to incorporate the seasoning over the corn.

I used Northwood Seasonings by Penzeys which has coarse flake salt, paprika, black pepper, thyme, rosemary, garlic and chipotle. But I have also used Italian seasonings and just garlic. You really can just add so many different seasonings to spice up your corn on the cob.

Friday Favorites

Specialty Bottle - I found this site and was really happy. I have been searching for a gallon jar without a spout for a while. And it is hard to find a gallon. Find half gallon or smaller but not gallon in my area. This site has so many different kinds of bottles. I saw many uses. Look at the bottom of their home page - they have Martha Stewart using their bottles for many entertaining ideas.

Curbly - is a site I just started exploring. But have found some interesting articles on it. From the about section: "Curbly is a Web community for people who love where they live. Curbly is the best place to share pictures of your home, find design ideas, and get expert home-improvement advice."

How to Stop Comparing Yourself to Others - this was geared towards creative types but I think it really works for everyone. It is such a hard thing to conquer at times the comparison game. And although it might seem like a strange link to put here I think we can get caught up it in service - all types of service.

Making your Own Reusable Swiffer Dusters and Mop Covers - a little tutorial on how to do make them

Cooking Light Taco Party Menu - menu includes Blackberry Margaritas,Baked Black Beans with Chorizo, Flank Steak Tacos, Chimichurri Halibut Tacos, Cabbage Slaw, Grilled Pineapple-Avocado Salsa, Pineapple-Mint Sangria Sorbet - so many good recipes and a taco party is great for entertaining

Lemonade Days

I know I just posted yesterday, but today I found a fantastic recipe I wanted to share!

Lemonade is one of my favorite summertime treats. Whether I make my own or buy it at the store, there is nothing as refreshing as lemonade to me. Here is a recipe I've had for years for lemonade:

* 1 1/2 cups sugar
* 1 1/2 cups of water
* 1 tbsp grated lemon peel
* 1 1/2 cups fresh lemon juice (about 8-10 lemons)


In a small saucepan, stir together sugar, water and lemon peel. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Boil for 5 minutes, stirring and then remove from heat.

Stir in lemon juice.

Add mixture to 9 cups cold water.


Today while reading my Real Simple Magazine, I came across this recipe for Hibiscus Mint Lemonade. Since I grow fresh mint in my garden, and it has grown out of control this summer, I scooted out the back door and picked some to try this with.

Here's the recipe:

4 Hibiscus tea bags (like Celestial Seasonings Red Zinger, which I love!)
2 cups fresh mint leaves (this is a lot of mint, just fyi)
2 cups boiling water
2 1/2 cups lemonade

Steep mint leaves and tea bags in the 2 cups boiling water. Pour into a pitcher, straining out the tea bags and mint leaves. Add lemonade and chill. Serve over ice. Garnish with additional sprigs of mint.

There are other recipes on the Real Simple website as well!

Summer Time BBQ and other Tips

Happy 4th of July to those of you in the U.S.!

I love the 4th of July. I love fireworks, grilling, and displaying my patriotism! I thought I would share with you my favorite grilling recipes and some tips on displaying your American Flags!

The photo above I took at the fireworks display near my house over the weekend. It was my first time photographing fireworks and I learned a lot! Next time the photos will be even better!

Grilled Corn:

Ears of Corn, shucked and cleaned
Aluminum Foil

Shuck and clean the corn, having a small vegetable brush makes it easier to get the silk off the corn. Wash it, but don't dry too much of the water off of it, otherwise it will burn. Wrap ears in foil. Sir likes me to twist the ends into points and bend them in opposite directions so that when he grills he can keep track of how often he has turned them, also it helps keep the corn from rolling around.

Grill over direct heat for 30-50 minutes depending on the amount of charring you want. Also, if you are grilling chicken at the same time, and have a small grill, you may have to move the corn to indirect heat for about 15 minutes. If you don't want any charring at all, then grill entirely over indirect heat.

These times are for a charcoal grill. Times for gas are going different!!


BBQ Cola Chicken

I LOVE LOVE LOVE mixing BBQ Sauce and Cola!

1 Cup Cola (I prefer Pepsi)
1/2 Cup BBQ Sauce (I like sweeter BBQ sauces with this, like Jack Daniel's Hickory Brown Sugar or Sweet Baby Ray's Hickory Brown Sugar or if you can get it Montgomery Inn Barbeque Sauce).
1 1/2 chicken legs or thighs or hindquarters (I find dark meat grills better and moister)

Mix Cola and BBQ sauce in a small saucepan and heat over low heat until heated through. Reserve a small amount to serve with the chicken (1/2-3/4 cup).

Heat grill. Place chicken over direct heat for 15 minutes, turn about halfway through. If it's starting to char to much, adjust the time accordingly. When we have a really hot grill, it only takes about 12 minutes.

Remove to indirect heat for 25-30 minutes, turning occasionally and basting with BBQ sauce the last 15 minutes.


Flag Etiquette

* Fly only clean flags in good condition
* Fly the flag only during the day unless you have your flag pole lit for nighttime use
* Do not fly your flag in the rain
* Do not use your flag for anything but a flag
* Do not let your flag touch the ground

Friday Favorites

Real Outdoor Living - has project lists and how-tos on making decks, fencing and other outdoor wood projects

10 S'More recipes - just perfect for a summertime treat

Raised Organic Vegetable Garden Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 - They have a very limited space and I thought it was really great what they did with the space they had available

30 days of Summer Entertaining - the bottom of the current entry she has the back entries to the rest of the days

Kitchen Tips: Cinnamon Sugar and other odd things my Grandma taught me

I've been wracking my brain trying to come up with material for a post and finally hit upon one the other day. It started with a simple recipe that called for a mixture of cinnamon and sugar to be sprinkled over the top of my fresh peach cobbler.

I have always had a small shaker of cinnamon and sugar mixture in my kitchen, just like my Grandma Pearl did. The first thing I learned to make on my own was cinnamon toast, under her watchful eye. She kept a shaker of cinnamon and sugar in her kitchen in case we children wanted a snack. It was easy, and relatively mess free.

I find myself using my shaker for more than just toast. Sir will sometimes sprinkle his cereal with the mixture, or when I'm baking, I'll sprinkle some over the top of what I'm making, like the peach cobbler from the other night or anything that suggests a sprinkling of sugar on top. Suggested ratio is 1 teaspoon cinnamon for every tablespoon of sugar, but you can tweak to your liking.

I was thinking about other tricks I got from Grandma and I realized, she's all over my kitchen.

* I keep a bag of onions that I've chopped up in the freezer to save time. Along the same line, I freeze ginger root to make it last longer and easier to grate into recipes.

* When I make things in the Crock Pot, I turn the pot on low while mixing the sauce then add the meat, makes the wet ingredients blend better.

* I also keep a shaker of baking soda near the sink to help wash off fruits and veggies. (ok, this one didn't come from Grandma, but from Aunt Phyllis!) It's also good for cleaning off cutting boards and scrubbing pots and pans too.

* Fresh herbs from the garden always taste better store bought. So I have a small herb garden out back where I have Basil, Oregano, Mint, Thyme, Rosemary and Sage. I pick them at the end of the season and dry them to use through out the winter.

* When making sauce or other liquid based dishes to freeze, drape a large freezer bag over the rim of a small mixing box, it makes it easier to fill.

Those are just the tips I can remember off the top of my head. My little Kitchen Witch up there is a reminder of my Grandma Pearl, she always had one in her kitchen. It was said that if the witch was facing towards the kitchen, then it was your turn to cook dinner, if her bottom was facing towards the kitchen, go out to eat! I named her "Pearl" after my Grandma.

Pita Chips

One of our grocery stores has a clearance section of bread. And often I can pita bread from 40 cents to 70 cents a pack just depending how many packages they have left to sell. And I buy them to make pita chips.



Pita Chips

Pita bread
1/4 cup olive oil
Toppings



Preheat oven to 375. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Spray with cooking spray.

Cut pita pockets into triangles and then separate them where they are still connected to the other half.

Mix oil and toppings. (I did basil, oregano, rosemary, red pepper flakes, garlic powder, onion powder, parmesan cheese, sea salt)

Brush both sides of pita bread with the oil/herb mixture.

Bake for 6-10 minutes until they are crisp. Flip/stir at the half way mark. Let cool before serving. Store in an airtight container.


Some possible toppings:
Sea salt
Parmesan Cheese
Herbs of choice
Garlic
Cinnamon sugar with melted butter instead of oil

2 Book Reviews

Real Simple: The Organized Home


Just like the magazine, the book had really good photos. And the photos showed some good organizing ideas. But the downfall of this book is that it didn't describe really how to implement its ideas. There isn't hardly any text in the book and no captions or how-to instructions to go with the photos to tell you how to create that in your home. In the back of the book, it has a resource list but not an index of what item went with each resource. So although I found some great and interesting containers in the photos, there is no clear way to find those items without just going through each resource which is a big list. If you like Real Simple's photos you will enjoy this book. If you enjoy real simple's tips and ideas, you won't enjoy this book, as it really doesn't give much written content and how to create the ideas put forth in the photos.

Decorating Small Spaces: Live Large in Any Space (Better Homes & Gardens)

The book is only good maybe for section to do layouts. It has graph-paper and then cut-outs that so you can arrange your room. But if you are wanting a book that will tell you how to get the most space out of your small room - this probably isn't the book for you. I mean it has some nice ideas for hidden compartments behind mirrors, under the stairs or over doorway type storage solutions. I don't feel it was really a book for utilizing space in small rooms rather a book of utilizing space in any/bigger size room/house. Many of the photos show medium to large rooms that look airy and not in need of space.

The solutions I did kind of like in the book of course then didn't go into detail on how to create the idea and I notice many of the purposed ideas were the same. Another annoying things was the layout of the text because it was confusing to follow and hard to read.

Overall I found some of the photos in the book inspiring. And even a few might be worth while to implement in a future house but won't work in our current house. The book offers some ways to utilize and organize un-used space more creatively. But BH&G didn't focus enough on actual small rooms to create space so for me it didn't live up to expectations.

Friday Favorites

A to Z - How to Decorate Series - A to Z has gathered some great bloggers together to do a month long series on decorating

TinyBuddha.com: Being Hard on Yourself - "focus on progress, not perfection–to forgive myself when I’ve gotten negative, and then start anew from right where I stand."

180 Popsicle Recipes - link up to recipes for homemade popsicles to cool off for the summer

Vermontucky Lemonade - from Smitten Kitchen - just looks like a great summertime cocktail

DIY Concrete Garden Spheres - from Design Sponge

Product Review: Bamboo Towels

In the interest of trying to have a greener, more eco-friendly house I picked up a pack of bamboo cloths while at the store a few weeks ago. The packaging promised that they would be anti-fungal, anti-microbial, anti-bacterial. The package said good for dishes and washable Great! I thought, I love my all purpose microfiber cloths, but they STINK even after washing them with vinegar in the rinse water. I was very excited and promptly began using them.

They clean up well, are generously sized and wonder of all wonders, don't smell bad after a few days sitting beside the sink!.



However, I am really less than impressed with them:

1) They are supposedly washable. They fray badly and tear in the washing machine. Now, maybe it would be better if you washed them by hand, but I don't have the time or inclination to do that.

2) The ones I have are about the size and shape of paper towels.. therefore, last week when I was in school and Sir saw one sitting on the side of the sink... he thought I had left paper towel there and... threw them out.

3) For the price I paid, I'm not convinced that they are worth it. I know Trader Joe's carries another brand and honestly, I haven't tried them, but the nearest Trader Joe's is over 40 miles from our house. Should I find myself in that neighborhood then I will stop and procure them, but going 40 miles out of the way for eco-friendly towels with gas prices near $4/gallon here does not seem like a smart thing to do.

Here's one of the towels after two trips through the washing machine...

Pasta Salad

We went on a picnic a few weeks ago at one of the many beautiful waterfalls here in Colorado. And I didn't want to just pack the usual sandwiches so I suggested pasta salad and that sounded like a good idea to everyone. I wanted to make something that I had all the ingredients on hand so this is what I came up with it. It is easy and good for summer dinner. Serve with some crusty bread.

I would say this serves about 6. This would be easy to double to make for a crowd also.


Ingredients
8 oz. uncooked pasta (I used small shells)
1 cup cooked cubed boneless chicken breast (I used 1 large breast)
3/4 cup cubed cheddar cheese
1/2 cup peas
1/2 cup carrot - shredded or julienned (either work and taste good)
1 1/2 cups Ranch dressing*

Directions
Cook the pasta until done to desired tenderness and drain well. Cool completely. Toss with chicken, cheese, peas, carrots and dressing. Chill for an hour before serving.

*Ingredient Tips
* Start with 1 cup of Ranch dressing and then taste and keep going until you are happy with the consistency and taste. Also if you let it set over night sometimes the dressing can soak in so might need to add more the next day if you have left overs. I wouldn't make this salad the day before - unless just prepping all the ingredients and then tossing together an hour or 2 before serving.

* I used frozen peas and just ran a little water over the peas to thaw them.

* Left over chicken would be good for this - I used left over grilled chicken.